Art of making railway splice-bars



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

MoL. W. THOMSON. ART OF MAKING RAILWAY SPLICE BARS.

No. 460,899. Patented 001;,6, 1891.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet- 2 MoL. W. THOMSON. ART OF MAKING RAIL-WAYSPLICE BARS.

No. 460,899. Patented Oct. 6, 1891.

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MCLEOD W. THOMSON, OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ART OF MAKING RAILWAY SPLICE-BARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 460,899, dated October6, 1891. Application filed March 7 1891. Serial No. 384,136. (No model.)

To ccZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MCLEOD IV. THOMSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Altoona, in the county of Blair and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of MakingRailway Splice Bars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

In prior patents of the United States issued to me October 18, 1887, andOctober 8, 1889, ofiicially numbered 371,862 and 112,681, respectively,I have shown and described a construction of railway-rail chairs and asplicebar, by which all the vertical or downward stresses are carried tothe bottom of the joint or to the base of the splice-bar.

The present invention relates, however, to the manufacture of asplice-bar of the character disclosed in my patents above mentioned, andthe object is to facilitate and make easy the manufacture of thesplice-bar by rolling, bending, and cutting the same in a novel manner,(with the aid of suitable mechanical appliances) and at the same timeeffect economy in the metal.

ith these and other ends in View my invention consists in a blank or barof metal rolled in a general flat shape and formed with a longitudinalflange on the lower side, a reentrant angle on the upper side whichextends longitudinally of the blank bar and lies substantially over theflange on the lower side thereof, and a tapering neck situated at oneside of said re-entrant angle and flange, and joining those portions ofthe blank bar which constitute the base and upright head of thesplice-bar after the blank bar has been bent, as contemplated by myimprovement.

My invention further consists in the art of making a splice-bar for arailway-chair from the aforesaid blank bar, after it has been out into asuitable length, consisting in bending the same longitudinally along theline of the base of the re-entrant angle to produce a basesection and anupright section, and then bending the blank bar along the tapering neckto impart to the upright section the desired shape in cross-section totake bearing against the foot and web of a railway-rail, all as will behereinafter more fully described and claimed.

To enable others to more readily understand my invention, I haveillustrated the same in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I isa plan view of a blank bar before it is bent or shaped into thesplice-bar. Fig. II is a transverse section thereof. Figs. III and IVare views showing the various bends which the blank bar is subjected toin shaping the same into the complete splice-bar ready for use in therailway-chair, said blank being shown in transverse section in each ofsaid figures. Fig. V illustrates a modified bending of the blank bar,which may be followed in practicing the method. Figs. VI and VII areviews in perspective and transverse sections, respectively, of arailway-chair, composed,in part, of two splice-bars made in accordancewith the improvement.

Like letters and numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in theseveral figures of the drawings.

In carrying my invention into practice I first roll out a blank bar inthe general form or shape shown in Figs. I and II, which blank as itcomes from the rolls and while still in a heated condition passes to theshears or saw to be cut into suitable lengths, and then the said lengthsor parts are successively bent into the shapes shown in Figs. III andIV. The blank bar 1 is provided with a longitudinal flange 2 on itslower side, and the upper side of the blank bar is formed with are-entrant angle or longitudinal groove 3, which lies immediately overthe flange 2 and extends longitudinally of said blank. On one side ofthe re-entrant angle the blank bar is bottle-shaped, the neck or taperedportion 6 forming one side of the re-entrant angle and being joined toflange 2, while on the opposite side of said re-entrant angle the bar istapered in thickness from the angle outwardly for a portion of the widthto produce the neck a, the outward part of the portion B being ofgreater thickness for strength and durability, and being formed with alongitudinal rib 5 on its upper surface.

To produce the splice-bar after the blank has been rolled and cut, theblank is first bent along the neck (3, forming one side of there-entrant angle, so as to produce the stand substantially vertical overthe base A and in such position that the rib will take bearing againstthe web and underthe head of a railway-rail, as indicated in Fig. IV.

By making the blank with the re-entrant angle or groove 3 and thetapering necks 4t and 6 the right-angled bending of the lower portion ofthe upright section B is made practicable, and the tapering necks whichjoin the two parts A B also effect economy in metal and insure bendingwith ease and facility.

As the blank bar is bent at right angles along the groove or angle whichlies over the flange 2, the latter is brought or forced into a positionparallel with the base A, and it projects beyond the vertical line ofthe upright section B, whereby the flange 2 is made to serve as thespike-flange to receive the head of the spikes, which serve to fastenthe splice-bar in place on the ties;

Instead of leaving the side or section A of the blank bar unbent andfree from manipu-v lation, or, in other words,instead of manipulatingthe section B only, I may bend the side A relatively to the section orside 13, so as to lie in a position at right angles to the side orsection B, such bending of the section A being along the line of theneck 6 or the base of the re-entrant angle. Thus it is only necessary tobend the section or side B along the tapering 4 and into the desiredshape in crosssection to take bearing against the foot and under thehead of a railway-rail.

Two of the splice-bars are required to form a railway-chair contemplatedby my invention, one splice-bar being on the left-hand side and theother splice-bar being on the right-hand side of the rail; but as thesplicebars necessary to form the joint or chair are duplicates it isevident that by arranging one of my improved bars in reverse position tothe other a complete chair will.be provided when the two bars areproperly bolted to the rails and spiked to the ties.

A splice-bar made from a blank manipulated in accordance with myinvention has the neck 4: bent so as to impinge against the upper sideof the base of the rail, the enlarged part above the neck 4: parallelwith the web of the rail, and the rib 5 impinges on the web of the railunder the fillet that joins the web with the head of the rail. The ribs5 on the inner sides of the splice-bars bear laterally against the websof the rails in order to secure perfect alignment; but, as explained inmy prior patents, the distinguishing feature of the joint thereindescribed is that all vertical stresses are carried to the bottom A ofthe chair.

The manufacture of the splice-bar according to my present invention isattended with advantageous results in thatthe operation of rolling,cutting, and bending is comparatively easy, thus facilitating the work,and economy of metal is also secured.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and detailsof construction of the parts herein shown and described as an embodimentof my invention can be shown without departing from the spirit orsacrificing the advantages of my invention, and.I therefore reserve theright to make such modifications as fall within the scope of myinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In the manufacture of railway splicebars, the blank bar, having thelongitudinal re-entrant angle or groove on one side and the projectingflange on the other side, adapted to form the spike-flange as the blankbar is bent in two directions on longitudinal lines substantiallyparallel with its re-entrant angle or groove, as set forth.

2. In the manufacture of railway splicebars, the blank bar having there-entrant angle or groove and the tapering necks on either side of saidangle, the blank bar being bent on the line of said angle and neck intwo directions to attain the necessary shape in cross-section, as setforth.

3. In the manufacture of railway splicebars, a blank bar adapted to bebent in different directions on two longitudinal lines and provided witha longitudinal protruding flange on one side, a groove or re-entrantangle on the otherin juxtaposition to said flange, and the taperingnecks, which join opposite sides of the blank bar to one another,substanti lly as described.

4. In the manufacture of railway splicebars, the herein-described blankbar adapted to be bent in two directions on longitudinal lines andhaving a portion thereof on one side of a flange and groove mostly ofuniform thickness and joined by a tapering neck and the other sidethereof thickened and joined by a tapering neck, substantially asdescribed.

5. The improvement in the art of manufacturing railway splice bars,which consists in rolling a blank bar with a re-entrant angle and thetapering necks, then transversely dividing said blank into suitablelengths, and finally bending the blank bar on two longitudinal linesparallel with the line of the angle and thereby secure the desired shapein cross-section, substantially as described.

6. The art of manufacturing railway splicebars, which consists inrolling a blank bar with a continuous re-entrant angle and the adj acenttapering necks, dividing said bar transversely into suitable lengths,and bending each length longitudinally on the line of one tapering neckand again bending the bar on the line of the other neck, so as tooverhang the tapering necks and giving the upright the base of thesplice-bar, substantially as section the desired shape in cross-sectionto described. take bearing against the foot and web of a I 5 7. Theartof manufacturing railway splicerailway-rail, substantially as shown andde- 5 bars, which consists in rolling a blank-bar scribed.

with a flange, the groove or re-entrant angle, In testimonywhereoflaffix my signature in and the tapering necks, then bending saidpresence of two witnesses blank bar longitudinally on the line of thegroove or angle to cause the sides of the bar MOLEOD W. THOMSON. 10 tolie substantially at right angles to each Vitnesses:

other and bring the flange in line with the A. O. SHAND,

base, and finally bending inwardly one of G". A. HOUSER.

